Talk of the Nation

First lady Mary Todd Lincoln's closest friend was her dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckley. Keckley was a talented seamstress who bought her own freedom. This unlikely friendship between the two women is the subject of playwright Tazewell Thompson's Mary T. and Lizzy K.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on the constitutionality of California's ban on same-sex marriage Tuesday, and will hear a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act Wednesday. The cases come at a time when public opinion about same-sex marriage has shifted remarkably.

Babies as young as nine months appear to approve of people who like what they like — and approve of being mean to those who don't share their tastes. Kiley Hamlin, lead author of a study in the journal Psychological Science, discusses the importance of similarity to young children.

According to the Institute of Medicine as many as 250,000 of 700,000 veterans of the first Gulf War suffer from an array of unexplained medical ailments. Guests discuss the latest research on Gulf War illness and its treatment and why it's been hard to pinpoint a cause.

Although the gastric brooding frog became extinct in the mid-1980s, the genome of that Australian amphibian species is alive again thanks to modern biotech techniques. Michael Archer, leader of the 'Lazarus Project,' describes early efforts to resurrect extinct species.

In his book Grand Central: How A Train Station Transformed America, New York Times urban affairs correspondent Sam Roberts writes of the scientific innovations pioneered at New York City's Grand Central Terminal, such as electric commuter trains and standardized time.

Cars and trucks kill some 80 million birds a year on U.S. roads, a source of death that may now be a powerful force of natural selection. Charles Brown, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Tulsa, says cliff swallows caught for research have shorter wings than their kin killed on roads--possibly because shorter wings bestow better maneuverability in traffic.

Disturbing images of the dead and dying have long been used as tools to provoke change. After the tragedy in Newtown, Ct., some are urging the release of the crime photos, hoping that images of the massacre might lead to stronger gun control.

How much can you change a school in one academic year? That's the premise of the PBS documentary 180 Days: A Year Inside An American High School. The documentary follows the day-to-day struggles facing Washington Metropolitan High School — an alternative school in Washington, DC.

When a Florida man vanished into a massive sinkhole that opened underneath his home in February, the case garnered national attention. But geologists say sinkholes occur regularly without much notice.

News coverage of the foster care system is often in response to stories about the children — their struggles and sometimes their triumphs. Much of the public perception of foster parents is based on stereotypes and misconceptions.

The term "red line" has been used by the U.S. and other countries to refer to unacceptable actions including Iran's development of nuclear weapons and North Korea, and the use of chemical weapons in Syria. While there is value in having clear-cut parameters for intervention, there is also great risk.

NPR's Neal Conan talks with Iraq veterans about how the media coverage and the national conversation around the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq resonates with their personal experiences.

After two football players were convicted in the Steubenville rape trial, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says he will convene a grand jury in April to consider bringing charges against partygoers, school officials and parents who may share responsibility in the rape of a 16-year-old girl.

The Conservative Political Action Conference convened March 14-16, to assess the future of the conservative movement and determine how to advance their agenda. Political Junkie Ken Rudin discusses how conservatives will move forward with Al Cardenas, chairman of the American Conservative Union.